PLANS to extend a landmark building in Southampton to make room for almost 50 new flats have been submitted to civic chiefs.

Proposals to add an additional two storeys onto Compass House on Romsey Road have been submitted to Southampton City Council.

The extension would provide room for 48 flats including 32 one-bed flats, 14 two-bed flats and one studio flat.

The four-storey building was the home of Britain's mapmakers Ordnance Survey for more than 30 years before the company moved to its new purpose-built site, Adanac Park.

The proposal was submitted by BMR Compass on September 22.

It comes following plans to turn the landmark building into more than 260 flats.

Plans also include new restaurants, shops, offices and a surgery.

In April 2019, councillors at Southampton City Council backed the plans for an additional floor which will provide 19 new flats – 11 one-bedroom, five three-bedroom and three two-bedroom.

The proposal for Compass House comes after new homes and a Tesco Express were built at the former Ordnance Survey site over the past years.

But the plans have been met with concern by local residents who claim the area is already "overcrowded".

In November last year, a local resident said in a letter addressed to the council: "This will completely overcrowd the area, the land has already been overcrowded with the development from Taylor Wimpey and also Barratt Homes.

"There is very minimal parking amongst these two estates let alone another 241 cars if there is only one car per household.

"These days households usually have two cars, this will then bring nearly 500 cars into such a small amount of space."

Proposals have also been submitted for a new hotel in the carpark of Compass House.

Plans for a three-storey building were submitted at the end of last year in the Compass House carpark in Romsey Road.

The hotel would feature 73 bedrooms and 35 car parking spaces.

The scheme was set to be approved in October 2019 but the decision was deferred after civic chiefs asked clarifications on parking spaces.

The hotel is expected to create 19 new jobs but as previously reported the name of the operator is yet to be revealed.